START Program

The 12-week START program is for Black aspiring entrepreneurs or early-stage founders with entrepreneurial ambition and/or potential scalable product or service ideas for a target market. The program allows entrepreneurs to build skills and confidence to establish the business for success and iterate on their idea alongside other Black entrepreneurs.

Live Program Schedule

The START program combines virtual workshops and networking sessions with our online learning platform to help you put those skills into practice. This program helps you build the skills and confidence to position your business for success alongside other Black founders.

Here’s everything we’ll cover in our workshops.

START program virtual bi-weekly workshops topics and dates:

Starting a Business – Tuesday, September 13 @ 6:30pm

Facilitated by Nico Jones and Natalie Frederick-Wilson
Learn essential business concepts and get practical tips like how and when to register your business. Receive insider tips on tools, methods and best practices to start a business in this session.

Solving Customer Needs – Tuesday, September 27 @ 6:30pm

Facilitated by Amoye Henry and Laurissa Manning
Learn about the roadmap of a business and the necessity of knowing your purpose in connecting with customers. Receive support in building your Lean Business Canvas, a one-page business plan.

Building Your MVP – Tuesday, October 11@ 6:30pm

Facilitated by Olu Osunrinde and Matt Cooper 

Learn how to use the problem-hypothesis template, do customer discovery and validation, and engage a supportive skills-aligned team. Get hands-on support to add your products or services to the Tribe Network marketplace.

Reaching Your Customers – Tuesday, October 25 @ 6:30pm

Facilitated by Andréa Jones
Sharpen your social media marketing skills and learn how to tailor your marketing and branding efforts to reach your customers better. Learn how to build a social media strategy you’ll actually stick with. 

Accessing Funding – Tuesday, November 8th @ 6:30pm

Facilitated by Dan Oshodin
Join us to learn about the various forms of non-dilutive funding available to incorporated and unincorporated businesses at any stage. We’ll focus both on non-dilutive repayable financing and non-repayable funding opportunities.

Weekly mentorship – restarting in March 2023!

Join small group mentorship sessions and one-on-one to dive deeper into specific business problems and receive tactics from our Black expert mentors. Black business mentors with lived experience are available every week during the program to support you with your business development and obstacles, build accountability, and provide encouragement.

Each mentor is available for an hour per week; make sure to book your time early as space is limited

Join us for Black Founders Lunches

Draw on the extensive network of knowledge within our community of Black entrepreneurs in various industries and levels of experience. Black Founders Lunch is an open space for you to bring any of the challenges you’re working through or to offer other entrepreneurs advice based on your experiences and knowledge. The last Black Founders Lunch for the START Program is on November 15, 2022!